DERBYSHIRE LA

Acceptable Use of IT, the Internet

and Electronic Communication Policy

Horsley C of E Primary School

Record of Policy Amendment / History

Version/ Issue / Date / Author / Reason for Change

CONTENTS

  1. Introduction

  1. Scope

  1. Use of Internet, Email and other Electronic Communication
  2. Safe Working Practice

  1. Virtual Learning Environment

  1. Social Media

  1. Safeguarding

  1. Newly Qualified Staff

  1. Laptops issued to Staff

  1. Health and Safety guidance on using IT equipment including Laptops

  1. Use of other School IT Equipment

  1. Software

  1. Network Access, Passwords and Data Security

  1. Encryption

  1. Monitoring of Email

  1. Monitoring Internet Access and Instant Messages
  2. Private Use
  3. Disciplinary and Related Action
  4. Summary
Acceptable Use Agreement
Appendix 1 - Employee Guidance on use of Social Media
Appendix 2 - Additional Guidance for Headteachers on the use
of Social Media

1.Introduction

The School’s IT resources are essential to the effective delivery of educational provision. Computers and other networked facilities, including internet access, are available to staff and pupils within the school and should be used to promote educational learning. It is therefore vital that all staff, agents and contractors are aware of the School’s policies and procedures relating to the use of IT resources. A poorly administered network or weak password controls could expose the School’s information to an unauthorised user or introduce a virus infection.

  1. Scope

2.1Thispolicyapplies to all technology and communications equipment provided by Derbyshire County Council/School (e.g PCs, laptops, PDAs, Palm computers, mobile phoneswith Internet access etc).

2.2Any personal or potentially personal information sent via e-mail and the Internet is covered by the Data Protection Act 1998. The Act requires all employees to take special care when handling personal information.

2.3E-mails may be covered by the Freedom of Information Act and are disclosable as part of legal proceedings. Employees should exercise the same caution when writing e-mails as they would in more formal correspondence.

2.4Use of e-mail and the Internet, which brings the County Council/school into disrepute, may result in disciplinary action.

2.5Limited use of the Internet and e-mail is permitted subject to these principles:

  1. E-mail: Employees are allowed limited use of e-mail for personal communication
  2. Internet: Personal use of the Internet is permitted outside normal working hours
  3. Any personal use must not, in any way, distract employees from the effective performance of their duties
  1. Use of Internet,E-Mail and other Electronic Communication

Internet and Email use is integral to the effective delivery of educational services provided by the school. Nothing in this policy should be read as restricting the proper use of email and Internet for School activities. Limited personal use of School’s Internet and Email system is permitted subject to these principles and guidance notes.

Email

3.1Where possible, personal use of email should be in employees’ own time. Limited use of email during the working day is allowed, but should be restricted to a few minutes a day to respond to urgent incoming email and should not be used when teaching or supervising pupils.

Excessive use of email is not allowed and may result in disciplinary action.

3.2While personal use of the Internet and email is permitted during lunch breaks and out of working hours, staff should be aware that the facilities are provided by the school and any activity received/sent through the school’s network, personal or otherwise, is recorded and will be monitored.

3.3Staff should not engage in ‘recreational’ chatting during working time, on email or through instant messaging, that results in lost productivity or distracts other employees from their work. The school’s facilities must never be used for the passing of inappropriate personal information of any kind.

3.4Email is now used widely to communicate both internally and externally, providing rapid circulation and many positive benefits. Staff should, however, remain aware of their professional position when communicating via email. When email is used to communicate with students, parents or carers as part of a professional role, a school email address should always be used. The style and format of any such communication should follow guidelines provided by the school. Staff should consider whether it is advisable to copy a colleague into any contact with a pupil or parent as a further safeguard.

Staff should be aware that email is not always the best form of communication and should consider alternatives, as appropriate.

3.5Improper statements in email can give rise to personal liability and liability for the school and may constitute a serious disciplinary matter. Emails that embarrass, misrepresent or convey an unjust, or unfavourable, impression of the school or its business affairs, employees, suppliers and their families are not permitted.

3.6Extreme care must be taken when using the school’s email facilities to transmit information. Confidential or sensitive information should not be sent via the Internet or email unless the data is protected by the school’s secure provision for such communications. Staff should remember that when a Subject Access Request or Freedom of Information request is submitted relevant email communications will be included in the material to be provided.

3.7Employees must not use e-mail in any way that is insulting or offensive.

Employees must not deliberately view, copy or circulate any material that:

  • could constitute bullying
  • is sexually explicit or obscene
  • is racist, sexist, homophobic, harassing or in any other way discriminatory or offensive
  • contains material the possession of which would constitute a criminal offence
  • promotes any form of criminal activity
  • contains unwelcome propositions
  • contains images, cartoons or jokes that will cause offence
  • appears to be a chain letter

3.8 Personal use of Internet

  • Use ofthe Internet is limited to employees’ own time.
  • Use of the Internet via County Council or school equipment should exclude use for trading or personal business purposes.
  • Use of the Internet to buy goods or services will not render the County Council or school liable for default of payment or for the security of any personal information disclosed. Staff are advised not to use the school’s computer system for making payments.
  • Personal goods ordered to be delivered to the work address should be agreed in advance with the Headteacher.

3.9 Site Contents

Many Internet sites contain unacceptable contents. Employees must not deliberately view, copy or circulate any material that:

  • is sexually explicit or obscene
  • is racist, sexist, homophobic, harassing or in any other way discriminatory or offensive
  • contains material, the possession of which would constitute a criminal offence
  • promotes any form of criminal activity
  • contains images, cartoons or jokes that will cause offence
  • that constitutes bullying

3.10 Accidental Access to Inappropriate Material

Many internet sites that contain unacceptable content are blocked automatically by the school’s filtering systems. However it is not possible to block all ‘unacceptable’ sites electronically in all circumstances. If staff become aware of any sites that require re-categorisation they should inform the school’s IT technician as soon as possible.Employees may receive an e-mail or visit an Internet site that contains unacceptable material. If this occurs, a line manager or the headteacher should be informed as soon as possible. The headteacher will use their professional judgement whether to report the matter further. In this situation the staff member should ensure a short written record is kept as they may be asked to provide details relating to the incident and an explanation of how it occurred. This information may be required later for management or audit purposes.

3.11 Copyright

Employees may be in violation of copyright law if text is simply cut and pasted into another document. This may equally apply to photographs and music samples used as illustration or backing track in resource materials. Teachers should make it clear to pupils that care should be taken when including this type of material in any school or exam work. Most sites contain a copyright notice detailing how material may be used. If in any doubt about downloading and using material for official purposes, legal advice should be obtained.Unless otherwise stated on the site all down loaded material must be for curricular or research purposes and must not be passed to third parties.

Downloading of video, music files, games, software files and other computer programs – for non-work related purposes-is not allowed. These types of files consume large quantities of storage space on the system and may violate copyright laws.

  1. Safe Working Practice

4.1Staff should make careful, considerate use of the school’s IT resources, report faults and work in a way that minimises the risk of introducing computer viruses into the system.

4.2Staff are responsible for maintaining the security of computers and networks by only using their own logon details and not allowing other staff or pupils to use their personal passwords. Staff should ensure that machines are not left unattended when they are logged on.

4.3Staff should ensure as far as possible, that when using work equipment at home, other family members do not use the equipment for their personal use. Staff are responsible for all the content (software and data) on any equipment allocated to them.

Staff should not install any unlicensed software on machines allocated to them.

4.4Staff must make every endeavour to protect students from harmful or inappropriate material accessible via the Internet or transportable on computer media.

  1. Virtual Learning Environments (VLE)

5.1As many schools now provide 24 hour access to a wide range of information – including resource materials, pupil data, school policies – it is essential that these guidelines are in place for the use of the internet by both staff and pupils.

Network managers have a duty to ensure that the site access is secure with passwords providing differing levels of access to staff and students.

5.2There must be no expectation by the school that staff will be available outside normal working hours just because they are able to access the internet from home. There will therefore be no expectation, other than by agreement, that staff will respond to email or other messages, sent outside the working day, before the start of the next working day. It will be made clear to parents that if pupils are posting work, or emailing work directly to a member of staff, that there must be no expectation of an immediate response.

5.3Access to a website from outside school should not be a reason to reduce timescales for completion of work by either staff or pupils. For example, the same amount of time should be allowed for completion of annual reports if done on-line through the internet as that allocated previously for hand-written reports.

  1. Social Media

6.1For the purposes of this policy, social media is a type of interactive online media that allows parties to communicate instantly with each other, or to share data in a public forum. This includes online social forums such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, internet newsgroups, and chat rooms. Social media also covers blogs and video- and image-sharing websites such as YouTube and Flickr.

There are many more examples of social media than can be listed here and this is a constantly changing area. These guidelines should be followed in relation to any social media used.

The use of sites such as Facebook, MSN, Messenger, Twitter, Skype and many others (such as on-line gaming through Xbox or PlayStation live) is now increasingly widespread. However, as well as bringing many positive benefits, there are also many potential problems. The following guidance is given to all staff and pupils for their own protection. The guidance should apply whether the staff member is using school hardware or their own personal hardware (computer, phone, console etc.)

6.2At all times, staff should be aware of the School’s Code of Conduct expected of professional adults working with children. Employees who work directly with members of the public, including parents, need to be aware that the information they post on their profile can make them identifiable to members of the wider school community as well as people they know in a private capacity.

Employees should therefore consider this when setting up their profile, particularly in relation to; the use of a photograph, providing details of their occupation, employer and work location.

Staff shouldconsider very carefully any conflict of interest when linking through social media to people they also know through work. The School considers it would be inappropriate to have pupils as ‘friends’ through social media, and consequently, to do so may be considered to be a disciplinary matter.

Online sites such as Facebook are in the public domain, and personal profile details can be seen by anyone, even if users have their privacy settings on the highest level. Also if a user’s profile is linked to other sites, any changes to their profile will be updated there too.Staff who have set their privacy level to the maximum can have their privacy compromised by ‘friends’ who may not have set their security to the same standardand therefore comments, photographs or video clips sent to such contacts may be more widely available than originally anticipated.

Staff should be aware of the image they are presenting when communicating via such media and ensure, as far as possible, that any comments made are not open to misinterpretation. Circulation of comments on such media can be rapid and widespread and therefore staff should be encouraged to adopt the general premise of not putting anything on such a site (or in an email) that they wouldnot put in a formal letter, be prepared to say in a face-to-face conversation or discuss in a public place.

6.3The Headteacher and Governors will give consideration, when reaching decisions relating to potential disciplinary cases for breach of such a code, to the difficulty of staff members in ‘controlling their image’ all the time, and that manipulation by others is extremely easy. The Head/Governors will give consideration to whether the ‘image’ had been created voluntarily by the member of staff.

6.4All employees are expected to behave appropriately and responsibly, and should be aware that they may be accountable to the School for actions outside of their work.

This policy clarifies that online conduct is the employee’s responsibility, and it is important that staff are aware that posting information on social networking sites cannot be isolated from their working life.

Any information published online can be accessed around the world within seconds and will be publicly available for all to see, and is not easy to delete/withdraw once published.The School views any comment that is made on a social media site as made publicly, and that any inappropriate comment made, will be considered in the context of which it is made. Staff are advised to be mindful that nothing on a social media site is ‘private’ so comments made must still meet the standards of the Employee Code of Conduct and other relevant policies.

Staff may be accountable for actions outside of work, including making comments on social media sites, if that is contrary to any of School’s policies, impacts on or compromises the employee’s ability to undertake their role, or undermines management decisions. Such behaviour would be investigated and may result in disciplinary action being taken, and ultimately could result in dismissal.

6.5Many staff will use social networking outside of work to keep in touch with family, friends or activity groups. For some staff in particular, there maybe occasions when contacts within these situations result in links between staff and pupils at the school (for example where there is a pre-existing friendship with the parent of a pupil). Staff should ensure that in such circumstances they are able to make a professional distinction between their role as a ‘friend’ outside work and their role within work and clarify their position to such contacts.

6.6Whilst generic political discussion is not to be discouraged, any

communications that employees make through social media must not:

  • bring the school into disrepute, for example by:
  • criticising, disagreeing or arguing with parents, colleagues or managers
  • making defamatory comments about individuals or other organisations/groups;
  • posting images that are inappropriate or links to inappropriate content;
  • breach confidentiality, for example by:
  • referring to confidential information about an individual (such as a colleagueor pupil) or the School
  • do anything that could be considered discriminatory against, or bullying or harassment of, any individual or group of individuals, and in contravention of the School’s policies, for example by:
  • making offensive or derogatory comments relating to sex, gender
  • reassignment, race (including nationality), disability, sexual orientation,
    religion or belief or age;
  • using social media to bully another individual (such as an employee of
  • the organisation); or
  • posting images that are discriminatory or offensive or links to such content.
  • take other action that impacts on the employee’s ability to do their job, for example by:
  • online activity that is incompatible with the position they hold in the School
  • any breach occurring inside or outside the workplace that is likely to affect the employee doing his/her work.
  • contravene the School’s policies, for example;
  • the Employee Code of Conduct, the Harassment and Bullying policy, or theEqualities policy.

The above examples are not a definitive list of the misuse of social media, but are examples to illustrate what misuse may look like.

6.7Staff should use common sense when posting items, think about the intended audience and consequences of making unwise remarks about colleagues at the school.

6.8Staff should be aware of the potential risks of communicating with current andex-pupils in ways which may be considered as inappropriate – particularly if it could be shown that the adult-pupil relationship of trust had been breached. The School requires staff to only use school platforms to communicate with pupils, in line with the Safeguarding Policy.